For the first nine months of this year sales have dropped a further 9.2 percent, with critics blaming the brand's lack of identity and poor styling. During the creation of Ford’s Way Forward restructuring plan, executives considered dropping the brand but decided to keep it because they claim they had the right product and money to advertise it.
Part of the plan is to promote the vehicle to a larger demographic including more Hispanic, female and black buyers. The first step was the sponsorship of the eighth annual Miami Fashion Week, which will be followed by a sponsorship of the Latino film festival in Miami. The next phase is to increase advertising for both television and the internet to coincide with the release of all several model updates plus some all-new models.